Lekh Lekha: The Nature of the Land of Israel

by Rav Ezra Cohen, yeshiva.co, translated by Hillel Fendel

The first words of this week's Torah portion are replete with important meaning: "Lekh lekha, Go out from your land, from your birthplace, and from your father's house – to the Land that I will show you" (B'reshit 12,1). Many ask why the command is so lengthy and detailed. Rashi explains, based on the Midrash, that this is because the command is not an easy one to fulfill and Avraham is to receive reward for each word of it. Leaving one's country is hard, and leaving one's birthplace is harder still, and leaving one's parents' home – the house in which one played with his siblings and friends and grew up with his loving family – is the hardest of all. 

The Ramban, in his commentary, agrees: "It is difficult to leave the country in which live one's friends, and all the more so one's birthplace, and all the more so when leaving behind one's entire family – and therefore G-d had to tell Avraham that he must leave everything, [and he did so] for the sake of his love for G-d."

The Siftei Chakhamim, probably the most famous of the 200+ commentaries on Rashi, explains that G-d "dragged out" the command in this way in order to make it harder for Avraham – and thus grant him greater reward: "Yes, despite the fact that this is your homeland and your family lives here, I am commanding you to leave – for the greater the difficulty, the greater the reward."

Another aspect of this great test of Avraham is explained by the Ohr HaChaim. G-d does not tell Avraham where he is supposed to go! Just "go to the land that I will show you." Avraham leaves his home and begins a long journey of wandering, marked by uncertainty and doubt as to where he will actually end up! Uncertainty is a great test for people – and especially when added to the hardship of being relaxed and serene outside one's natural place. To be in a place where you feel that everything is transient, and you don’t even know where you're headed – is quite a test. 

Yet, Avraham undertakes this difficult journey without complaints and without delay. It is very similar to Bnei Yisrael's 40-year trek through the wilderness, about which the Prophet said, "you walked after Me [G-d] in a desert, a land not planted," to a destination unknown to them. 

The secret to success in such a test is hidden in the words Lekh lekha, which literally mean, "Go to/for yourself." Rashi explains that it "will be for your benefit." We believe that all that G-d does is for our benefit – giving us more reward and raising us to higher levels. 

But here we must ask: Why in this way? Why must Avraham undergo such total uncertainty? Why such an abrupt and complete detachment from his home – and then to a situation of transience! Why was it made so difficult for Avraham? 

The future Nation of Israel, too, when it was on its way to the same place – the Land of Israel – found itself in a similar situation: traveling with uncertainty and without knowing how long they would remain in each place and how long they would be traveling. The Sfat Emet (the saintly Gerrer Rebbe) explains that G-d did not immediately reveal to Avraham the location of Eretz Yisrael because "that itself is an aspect of Eretz Yisrael." That is, in order to reach the Land in which we can "see G-d's face" (see Ex. 34,23) and cleave to Him – one has to walk, one has to go. One must "go out of himself," out of his earthiness; he must leave his father's home and all of his material possessions, and nullify himself totally before G-d. The idea is to leave oneself, lekh lekha, and instead, "go to the land that I will show you."

We are always in search of some kind of permanence in this world – but the truth is that we are temporary. It is told about a great rabbi who came to visit the saintly Chafetz Chaim, Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan, and was very surprised to see how sparse his home was. He asked the Chafetz Chaim, "Why is your house so empty? Have you no furniture?" The Chafetz Chaim responded, "And where is your furniture?" The man said, "It's not with me now, I'm just passing through." Rav Yisrael Meir said, "The same with me – I'm also just passing through this world."

This is the basic principle for attaining the level of Eretz Yisrael. This land is not one that we build only physically, with our own sweat and energies. It's a land that "G-d's eyes are on it from the beginning of the year to the end of the year" (Deut. 11,12). G-d is the One Who produces the fruits. He is the One Who determines that even sand that does not usually produce, in the Negev, for example, will actually produce more than other places! In the Land of Israel, we have to throw aside all regular calculations and know that we rely only on G-d. 

The Ohr HaChaim asks: "How is it that when G-d spoke to the Prophets, He first appeared to them, and only then spoke to them – while with Avraham, He simply spoke to him with no introduction?" He answers that Avraham's recognition of the Creator came from within himself; he did not receive a tradition of faith, but rather came to know G-d on his own. He had already met G-d within himself and was able to hear Him immediately. His faith in the Creator was imbued within him; as the Medrash teaches, his own kidneys taught him Torah. This is unlike the other Prophets, who had to first "see" G-d and meet Him, and only then could they hear Him.

We, too, are required to hear and see and meet G-d with total subjugation in order to accept that which is above us.